My most powerful coaching experience was in 2016. I had mustered the strength to leave an emotionally and physically abusive husband, the house we rebuilt painstakingly with our own hands and our two precious dogs. All of what I owned could fit in a small 2 room apartment. I was free and much more peaceful, but it was daunting and I had no idea what foot to put forward first or what the future would bring.
My strong will said I can go forward and it can only get better, I just need a hand up at this very steep rock face in this moment of my life. My coach therapist was the spark that put the damaging parts of my old life ablaze. With her guidance I found that way, burnt down the parts that had held me back and damaged me to the soul. I let them go and created space for something new and better.
It was time to rise from the ashes. The silence in the absence of such strife was deafening and peaceful at the same time. There was suddenly space and so much energy to create the life I really wanted. Through the work with my trusty mountain climbing guide I wrote my bucket list – things I wanted to do in my personal and professional life that now were possible with more space and energy. I wrote a bucket list of the person I wanted to be, to myself, to my friends and if ever again, a bucket list for a relationship. I wanted to evolve into a better version of myself to experience happiness, success and positive impact on the lives of all that crossed my path.
Professionally I took on a job that stretched me in a multitude of ways & it felt good to invest in a huge shift in my career again after so many years. I wanted to experience freedom, growth and discover the outer boundaries of the territory of my potential. I had moved countries before and had experienced exponential growth. I imagined what would possible to do that without the burden of a toxic relationship and more clarity on what I wanted. I went from a local to a global role, moved from Austria to Switzerland, from commercial to manufacturing part of the business with a massive growth trajectory. It was exciting and a little bit terrifying at the same time. My new manager understood my situation, gave me a baseline of trust and amazing coaching.
What did I make of the gifts of this experience? I put the bucket list into action, made the most of the opportunities. I then stepped into the role of the coach and mountain guide with my new business partners in that new area. Through many coaching moments and amazing teamwork, we rebuilt and implemented a new vision for our organization, doubled the production volumes of innovative therapies for serious and life-threatening illnesses, became a talent magnet for hard-sought talent and became the first company to commercially produce a new therapy for pediatric cancer.
On the personal side, I found my “people” – an amazing group of friends to share mountain adventures, travel, pizza karaoke and fine cuisine, unconditional support and friendship. I trained for and completed a half marathon, losing 25 pounds and creating lasting space for self-care & wellbeing in my life. And yes, despite completely letting go of a focused pursuit of another relationship (my plan was to adopt a herd of cats and focus on my peace), I met, built a healthy relationship with and married the love of my life – the best romantic partner, running buddy, father of our two beautiful children (and much more) than I could ever imagine.
Has this been the end of the challenges in life? No – nothing in life is static. However it brought such gifts of learnings that have helped me through a few changes, challenges and adventures since then:
The resilience, brilliance and compassion of the human spirit is stronger than we often imagine.
It IS possible to make something out of extreme circumstances and personal change, when the world as we know it is crumbling, volatile or unkind. When we let go of what is not serving us & find out what is, we create space for something new and better.
Get a guide to remind us of the strength of our human spirit, walk with and support us to create a way forward. It creates something better, sooner and with more flow than if we were to do it alone. It DOESN’T need to be so HARD.
Out of gratitude and inspiration from years of experiences of personal evolution and coaching, I’ve founded Spark & Rose Coaching – to partner with people in their experience of rebuilding something better in their career and lives, to evolve as leaders in a constantly changing environment and for everyone to unfold their full range of potential.
Whatever you are going through, there’s something better out there for you. Let’s go and get it.
